Ryan and Van Hollen clash over contraception

Two prominent congressmen sharply clashed Sunday over whether President Barack Obama is attempting to force contraception — but more broadly, his personal values — on Americans.

House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) argued on NBC's "Meet the Press" that Obama's desire to have most religious hospitals provide birth control coverage to employees is "not an issue about contraception."

Instead, Ryan said, Obama's move "treats our constitutional rights as if they’re revocable,” is “paternalistic, arrogant” and something that would be "violating our First Amendment rights … freedom of religion.”

Such comments echoed those of GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum, who described Obama's initial stance, which he last week softened, as something that's "oppressing religious freedom.”

But Maryland Rep. Chris Van Hollen, the ranking Democrat on the Budget Committee, sharply disagreed, accusing Republicans of harping on “red-meat social issues that rile up their base.”

Obama's decision to let many religious hospitals opt out of the contraception mandate — controversial in and of itself — is a “fair compromise” and a “principled compromise," Van Hollen said.

And questioning Obama's commitment to American principles because of his stances on this issue is “a new low in American politics" with "no place in our political dialogue," Van Hollen said.

“Republicans are making a big mistake” politically by focusing on such social issues and not other pressing matters, such as the economy, he added.